Businesses are often surprised about what time is compensable. But if a nonexempt employee sends emails from home in the morning and then drives to the office, the time spent commuting may become compensable. Time spent commuting generally is not compensable. Overtime misclassifications are costly mistakes because unpaid overtime adds up quickly and there often are not time records to determine the hours worked. But is the company bookkeeper really exercising the discretion and independent judgment to qualify for the administrative exemption? Probably not. Overtime exemptions are nuanced and are occasionally inapposite to a modern economy. Businesses are obligated to track all hours worked for nonexempt employees and when they fail to do so, an aggrieved employee need only estimate their hours for the payment of back wages and liquidated damages.įocus on the Exemptions. Employees may clock-in and clock-out regularly but then perform off-the-clock work that isn’t being compensated. If asked, could your business produce the time records, I-9 forms (with supporting documents), personnel files, payroll records, benefits records, and commission/on target earnings records for all employees within a week or two of being asked? More importantly, are your business records accurate? Inaccurate time records are an evergreen litigation source for plaintiffs’ attorneys. Wage and hour checkups should be a routine business practice. Saying simply, “I thought we were incompliance” will not be availing. Periodic checkups will improve the viability of a good faith defense (if one is needed at all). One way to avoid liquidated damages is to convince the court that the error was in “good faith” and that the company reasonably believed that it complied. Liquidated damages are a penalty equal to the back wages owed to an employee. Not convinced yet? The Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) imposes liquidated damages for wage and hour violations. Wage cases often are not a question of win or lose but of how much. Trust when I say that correcting a violation in advance is far healthier for your bottom line than defending an unlawful practice in court. Many wage and hour violations can be identified and cured with periodic compliance monitoring. Class actions are in a class of their own. Federal lawsuits filed by employees over the failure to pay wages are often worse given the adversarial nature of litigation and the threat of liquidated damages and the payment of mandatory attorneys’ fees. Going through a NHDOL or USDOL investigation is not enjoyable, but it is worse when hefty penalties and back wages lurk on the other side. Recent media stories about the DOL investigations into LaBelle Winery and Dos Amigos are uncomfortably prescient. They provide assurance that our health is good, and if things are not so, they provide opportunity to correct course.Īll too often, however, our businesses don’t undergo similar compliance checkups, especially in the wage and hour field where checkups are vitally needed. Why? We attend these appointments, not because they’re necessarily fun, but because they’re vital for maintaining health and wellness. We visit the doctor once a year, the optometrist once a year, and our dentists at least twice a year. The accapella group Home Free recorded and create their version of the song in 2015 with a Mash-up with Little Big Town's Boondocks.This article, written by Brian Bouchard, was originally published by and can be found here.Red Marlow performed a duet of the song with Ryan Scripps for The Battles on Season 13 of The Voice.The Swon Brothers covered it during season 4 of The Voice and subsequently a studio version was released.The Ozark Mountain Daredevils cover the song on a rare Album (CD) named Heart of the Country released in 1987. ![]() Irish Country singer Nathan Carter released his version of the song on his 2011 album Time Of My Life.Garth Brooks recorded his version of the song for his 2005 album The Lost Sessions and again for his 2013 box set Blame It All on My Roots: Five Decades of Influences.Canadian country band Emerson Drive recorded their version of the song on their 2004 album What If? A live version recorded in Dallas, Texas during 2004 was released as a digital single in 2005.The music video was directed by Bill Young and features the band playing in front of a live audience. Furthermore, the tentative date for this excursion is set in the late spring to early summer. Specifically, the adventurers plan to make their way to an undisclosed river and chart constellations during an evening in which a full moon is present. The premise of the song is a couple contemplating a late-night fishing expedition.
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